Bathing apparatus.



C. S. FRINKU BATHING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 8, 1915.

Patented Apr. 3,1917. 3 SHEETS-SHEET l Jitter: e55

C. S. FRINK. BATHING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED FEB. a. 1915.

Patented Apr. 3, 1917.

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Fla/71g C. S. FRINK.

BATHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. a. 1915.

Patented Apr. 3, 1917.,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

CHARLES SHEPHERD FRINK, 0F MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

BATHING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 3, 1917.

Application filed February 8, 1915. Serial No. 6,687.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES SHEPHERD FRINK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Bathing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in therapeutic bath cabinets of that class, which is designed for treating the body with rays of light, heat, and liquid, medicated-or otherwise, and of the desired temperature. Such an apparatus is particularly useful for curing physical ailments and its construction is designed to apply the liquid in a particular manner to neutralize or absolve 1mpurities from the skin. The construction further is sanitary and easy to operate and its simplicity overcomes liability to disorder. Its parts further are adjustable, so that the apparatus can be applied in any particular manner desired by the operator. To these ends my invention comprises the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter more particularly described and set forth in the claims.

'In the drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section; Fig. 2 is an end elevation partly in section, and Fig. 3 is a plan partly in section.

In the drawing, A indicates a housing of suitable construction, forming a receptacle into and out of which the body to be treated is passed. This housing is composed of a floor 2, sides 3 and 4, ends 5 and 6, and top 7. These parts form a tight inclosure, excepting that the end wall 5 is formed with an opening 8, through which the operating or carrier table 9 with the body lying flat thereon is movable. The top 7 slants upwardly from each side above the middle portion of the housing, at the apex of which there is placed in horizontal position a cap piece 10 extending longitudinally. Located along one side portion of the top, there is a trap door 11 hinged to swing up and through the opening which it closes, access can be had to the chamber formed by the housing. Upon the floor of the housing there are disposed a series of conveyer rollers 12, which are journaled in supporting members 13, secured to the floor, said rollers having flanges 14 at their ends, and being adapted to form an antifriction conveying surface, over" which the operating table 9 is freely movable into and out of the bath chamber. The operating table is provided on its lower surface with a pair of longitudinal bars 15, which bear upon the antifriction rollers and serve as runners guided by the flanges 14; to direct the table 9 as it moves into and out of the bath chamber. The outer end of the table 9 is provided with a pair of legs 16, having casters 17 on their lower ends which serve to support the outer end of the table when the latter is moved into outermost position, the inner end of said table being at the same time supported by the outermost antifriction roller.

Along each side of the table 9 there is a trough such as 20 for the purposes to be hereinafter described, and below each trough .in position to receive liquid through an outlet or spout such as 21 there is a catch basin such as 22 mounted upon the ends of supporting members 23, which are secured to the floor and an adjacent side wall of the housing. Connected with both catch basins 22, there is an outlet duct 24, a plug 25 in which can be removed from time to time to drain the basins 22 and remove the contents, which are received from the troughs 20 at the sides of the operating table when the latter is in the bath chamber.

Positioned along the outer side portions of the bath chamber above its fioor are two reservoirs 30 and 31, said reservoirs being mounted upon the supporting elements 23 and formed with drip flanges 32 extending inwardly and downwardly above the troughs 20, so that any drip from said flanges is caught by said troughs and conducted by the catch basins 22 away from the apparatus at the desired time. The reservoirs are connected by the piping 33, one end of which has an indicator gage 34,.outside of the housing, which is adapted to show the depth of liquid contained in the reservoirs, and the other end is provided with a draw-off faucet 35, which permits of the contents of the reservoirs being removed when desired. The reservoirs are for the purpose of holding liquid, medicated or otherwise which is used as a ash applied to the surface of the body by a wiper such as 36, said wiper being periodically and as frequently as desired moved to apply liquid over the surface of the body.

The Wiper 36 is in the form of a strip of flexible absorbent material fastened over the supporting bar 37, the ends of WhlCh are mounted upon a pair of arms 38 and 39,

- said arms in turn being secured or journaled by short-shafts or pivots and 41, carrier wheels 42 and 43 being journaled upon said shafts. The peripheries of the wheels 42 and 43 are supported in track bars 44 and 45, said bars being formed with grooves 46 curving upwardly between their ends, and in which the peripheries of the carrier wheels 42 and 43 are adapted to travel. The track bars extend transversely of the bath chamber and their ends are supported by vertical uprights 47 which are secured to the floor and top or ceiling of the housing. Secured to the shafts 40 and 41 are two links 50 and 51, which are hinged to swinging arms 52 and 53, the lower ends of said arms being rigidly mounted upon a'shaft 54. This shaft extends the full length of the housing andis journaled in suitable supports such as 55, one end of said shaft projecting outwardly through the end wall 6 and being oscillated by means of a crank arm 56, a pitman 57 connected to said crank arm and a piston rod 58. The piston rod 58 is reciprocated in the. cylinder 59 of a suitable water motor 60 or other motive means. The rocking motion produced on the shaft 54 due to the operation of the water motor, swings the arms 52 and 53, causing the wheels 42 and 43 to travel backward and forward in the grooves of the track bars 44 and 45 above the table 9, thus causing the wiper 36 to sweep over the surface of the body on said table.

The arms 38 and 39 are pivoted between their ends upon the shafts 40 and 41, their upper ends extending above the shafts 40 and 41. Positioned near each end of the bath chamber is a suitable support secured to the adjacent end wall of the housing and carrying a pair of guide rollers 66 and'67, spaced apart laterally of the bath chamber and between which the upper end of the adjacent arm. 38 or 39 projects, the distance from the middle portion of the bath receptacle in which said rollers 66 and 67 are placed being sufficient. to cause the arms 38 to be tilted laterally near the end of each stroke of the arms 52 and 53. This tilting movement 'near the end of each stroke causes the wiper to be drawn over and into the adjacent reservoir 30 or 31, the wiper dipping into said reservoirs successively. This movement moistens the wiper with fresh liquid and causes the wiper to successively moisten the surface of the body over which it is drawn as it is reciprocated. The track bars 60 cause the guide wheels to mount their superior portions as the arms 52 and 53' are reciprocated, thus lifting the wipers as they move over the surface of the body, and causing them to sweep evenly.

nannies The weight of the wipers upon the lower ends of the arms 38 and 39 causes said arms to assume vertical position between the ends of each stroke as they pass to and fro over 'the body. Any surplus liquid left on the are disposed within the bath chamber above the body in any adjusted position desired.

Each of these fixtures is mounted upon a suitably shaped arm 73, which extends upwardlythrough a cap piece 10, in which it can be secured in any radial or vertical position desired. The upper end of each of these arms is formed with a knob 7 4 for convenience in adjusting the position of the fixture and the portion of the arm below the knob is serrated at and passes through a sleeve member 7 6 mounted upon the cap 10.

This sleeve member has a clutch or catch 77, which may be made to engage in the serrations 7 5 to hold the arm at any elevation desired, but permitting the arm to be turned freely. The lighting devices 71' are adapted to hold electric lamps 7 8 in the usual manner, which may be supplied with electric current from any source not illustrated. The shades 72 are adapted to direct and confine the rays of light emitted from the lamps 7 8 downwardly upon the surface of-the body to any desired zone, and the heat generated by said lamps is adapted to raise the atmosphere within the housing to the desired temperature. In operation the carrier table 9 with the body to be treated thereon is moved into the bath chamber and the lights adjusted in the desired position over the body. The motor 60 is then started and the liquid eithermedicated or otherwise is applied to the surface of the body by the wiper 36, while the body is subjected to the influence of light rays from the lamps. This treatment is continued as long as desired, and the motor is then stopped, and the rtiperating table moved into outermost posiion.

Tn accordance with the patent statutes, T have described the principles of operation of my mvention, together with the apparatus WhlCll T now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but T desire to have it understood that the construction shown is only illustrative, and that the invention can be carried out by other means and applied to uses other than those above set forth within the scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is 1. Apparatus of the class set forth, comprising, in combination, a housing having means therein for supporting a body to be treated, a reservoir for holding liquid in said housing adjacentto said body supporting means, and a wiper dipping into said liquid and movable out of said reservoir to sweep over and wet the surface of the body upon said body supporting means.

2. Apparatus of the class set forth, comprising, in combination, a housing having means therein for supporting a body to be treated, a reservoir for holding liquid in said housing adjacent to said body supporting means, a wiper dipping into said liquid, a support upon which said wiper is mounted, and means for reciprocating said support over said body suporting means and sweeping said wiper backwardly and forwardly over the surface of said body.

3. Apparatus of the class set forth, comprising, in combination, a housing having means therein for supporting a body to be treated, a reservoir for holding liquid in said housing adjacent to said body supporting means, a wipe-r dipping into said liquid,

a support upon which said wiper is mounted, guiding means for directing said wiper support up and down as it travels over said body supporting means, and means for reciprocating said wiper support laterally of said housing and sweeping said wiper backwardly and forwardly over the surface of the body.

4. Apparatus of the class set forth, comprising, in combination, a housing having means therein for supporting a body to be treated, a reservoir for holding liquid in said housing adjacent to said body supporting means having a drip flange from its rim facing inwardly toward said body supporting means, av catch receptacle for dri from said flange and the adjacent edge 0 said body supporting means, and a wiper dipping into said liquid and movable out of said reservoir to sweep over and wet the surface of the body lying on its supporting means in said housing.

5. Apparatus of the class set forth, comprising, in combination, a housing having means therein for supporting a body to be treated, a reservoir for holding liquid in said housing adjacent each side of said body supporting means, a wiper supported above said body supporting means and movable to successively dip into the liquid contained in said reservoirs and sweep back and forth between said reservoirs over the surface of the body to be treated, and means for actuating said wiper.

6. Apparatus of the class set forth, comprising, in combination, a housing having means therein for supporting a body to be treated, reservoirs disposed on the opposite sides of said body supporting means in said housing for holding liquid, a carriage movable laterally in said housing above said body supporting means, a pair of arms each pivoted between its ends upon said carriage, a support swung by said arms, a wiper hanging from said support and adapted to dip successively into said reservoirs, guiding means against which the free ends of said arms strike to move the wiper laterally away from directly above the body being treated and with its lower end depending in either of said reservoirs, and means for reciproeating said carriage.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES SHEPHERD FRINK.

Witnesses:

E. M.'PETERsoN, M. A. GRIFFIN. 

